Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New high schools graduate their first senior classes

When Amy Green found out two years ago she was being reassigned from Silverado High School to the new Coronado campus, she was angry and unhappy. But she was also determined to enjoy her junior and senior years.

"I didn't want to be one of those people who never stopped complaining or said they were going to die if they didn't get a zone variance," said Green, who graduates today as co-valedictorian of Coronado's first senior class. "I decided to make the best of the situation."

The move to the brand-new school turned out to be a success, Green said.

"All my friends stayed at Silverado, so I really had to leave my comfort zone," Green said. "I think it was the best thing that could have happened to me; it challenged me to deal with change."

Coronado and Sierra Vista will both graduate their first senior classes today at the Thomas & Mack Center. Sierra Vista has 233 students receiving diplomas and Coronado 355.

Those are significantly smaller numbers than most of the district's other high schools, where senior classes range from 450 to 700 students. Enrollment at Coronado and Sierra Vista has been creeping up for the past two years, and the sizes of next year's senior classes are expected to be more in line with other campuses, said Dusty Dickens, director of zoning and demographics for the school district.

Being part of Coronado's debut crop of seniors meant more individual attention from teachers and smaller class sizes, Green said. There were just eight students in her Advanced Placement calculus class, and enrollment in other courses ranged from 15 to 30 students, Green said. That's compared to 35 or more students per class at other schools.

"You definitely get a better education," said Green, who will attend Wheaton College near Chicago. "Also, (Coronado Principal Monte) Bay picked all the teachers himself so everyone was very enthusiastic about being there. I think that came across to the students."

Unlike many of his classmates, Corey Corpodian was thrilled to be assigned to Coronado. Corpodian, whose family has moved frequently, said Monday he saw the new school as an opportunity for a fresh start.

"At Coronado everyone was the new kid, instead of just me," said Corpodian, who attended four different high schools in his freshman year. "It was a nice change."

Corpodian was actually a sophomore in Coronado's first year and earned enough credits to finish a year early.

"In the back of my head I was afraid we might move again," said Corpodian, a Millennium Scholar who will attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "At least this way I could graduate with people I knew."

Being one of 1,000 students in school built for 2,700 has its privileges, said Bay.

"There are only so many spots on the baseball team, so many student council positions, parts in the school play," Bay said. "Fewer students means more opportunities for the ones who are here. I'm proud to say our seniors take advantage of every opportunity that presented itself."

When asked how many of Sierra Vista's seniors were opposed to being reassigned to the school two years ago, Assistant Principal Kim Friel was frank.

"Probably all of them," Friel said Monday.

But by the time the school year began, it was clear the students were enjoying the little extras that came with breaking in a new high school, Friel said.

"We couldn't have asked for a better crop of kids," Friel said. "They bought into the school from day one and were an exceptional group of leaders."

While the district's older high schools have established long-standing rituals -- such as Basic students climbing into the hills to paint a giant white "B" -- it may be a while before similar traditions evolve for Sierra Vista and Coronado.

"Those kinds of things have to happen on their own, you can't force something to be a tradition," Corpodian said.

But that doesn't mean Coronado seniors aren't leaving a legacy, Corpodian said.

"We set very high standards for achievement, and I think the classes that come after us will look at what we did and say, 'That's the way it should be done,' " Corpodian said.

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